Chandigarh : With the Congress government busy working out a strategy to counter the Opposition on the mine auction row, the expansion of the Cabinet is likely to be held after the forthcoming Budget session. Speculation was rife in the political circles regarding the cabinet expansion before the Budget, there are no signs of expansion in the near future. A discussion was held on the Budget, but the final date would be decided over the next two days. Finance Minister Manpreet Badal said it would be held in mid- June. Another Cabinet meeting is scheduled in the coming days ahead of the Budget session to give approval to certain crucial bills, white papers on the performance of the SAD-BJP government and certain amendments to be tabled in the session. A senior government functionary today indicated a Cabinet expansion after the Assembly session. A top leader of the party said due to the Rana Gurjit Singh controversy, the circumstances had changed drastically and now the first priority for the government was to counter the Opposition attack on the issue outside and inside the Assembly during the session. In the Cabinet expansion, apart from the inclusion of eight more ministers, the post of Deputy Speaker will also be filled. Other than the CM, the Cabinet can have 17 ministers. Among the hopefuls are Raj Kumar Verka, OP Soni, Rakesh Pandey, Vijay Inder Singla, Randeep Singh Nabha, Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Surjit Singh Dhiman, and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.